Fetal tissue vaccines

[Joe_5859]

Here’s an article from the National Catholic Bioethics Center:

The Morality of Vaccinating Our Children by Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

 

[Joe_5859]

I’m going to college in New York in August :yyeess: but, since New York requires different vaccines for attendance at a school in the state, I am required to take them to attend, although I can probably choose to opt out for religious reasons. My question is this: what is the Vatican’s standpoint on immunizations produced using aborted fetal tissue? I know that abortions are wrong, but I have heard both yes and no, with the argument that the vaccines help preserve other lives. Can someone direct me to a formal document of some kind that gives the Vatican’s standpoint on this?

One of my main concerns is that, if the vaccine is forbidden, I may still be denied religious exception because the Church’s messages are apparently “too gray” and thus I can be denied access to the college and even have my acceptance revoked, apparently. I have to have the proper paperwork done in the next 5 days, so this is unfortunately not something I can afford to argue with a government about, unfortunately, given time constraints, since partial compliance is apparently considered legally to be non-compliance here.

Not all vaccines are derived from fetal cell lines. Ask your doctor about it.

 

[ExGratia]

Reading this far, no.

I think the problem are that nobody know if it is OK or not. What is important, and that goes for very country on our globe are that we must try to prevent any outbreake of any long gone and forgotten disease. And that can be done only by vaccin.

The 2 vaccines derived from aborted babies are MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) and varicella (chickenpox). I believe the shingles vaccine is as well, since it is dormant chickenpox that causes problems later. One could argue what you stated for rubella (the baby derived portion of the MMR), but chickenpox is not rare or life threatening. That vaccine was created for profits. As in, mom and dad don’t want to call off work to take care of Junior when he has chickenpox. Since day care or school will not take a child with visible chickenpox, it is a nuisance to parents. Does not sound as if it fits the “significant risks to health” the document states. Sounds like a company found a way to make money off of parents who do not wish to be inconvenienced.

Lets all remember that vaccines have risks and there are portions of the population who are more sensitive to them than others. I am thankful that I live in a state that allows philosophical, religious and health exemptions.

 

[Joe_5859]

The 2 vaccines derived from aborted babies are MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) and varicella (chickenpox). I believe the shingles vaccine is as well, since it is dormant chickenpox that causes problems later. One could argue what you stated for rubella (the baby derived portion of the MMR), but chickenpox is not rare or life threatening. That vaccine was created for profits. As in, mom and dad don’t want to call off work to take care of Junior when he has chickenpox. Since day care or school will not take a child with visible chickenpox, it is a nuisance to parents. Does not sound as if it fits the “significant risks to health” the document states. Sounds like a company found a way to make money off of parents who do not wish to be inconvenienced.

Lets all remember that vaccines have risks and there are portions of the population who are more sensitive to them than others. I am thankful that I live in a state that allows philosophical, religious and health exemptions.

Chicken Pox deaths have decresed by 98.5% from where they were at 20 years ago (source). It’s not just about being “inconvenienced.”

The OP needs to talk to his doctor about all this.

 

[MJJean]

Actually, chicken pox can be serious and can be life threatening.

“Chickenpox used to be very common in this country. About 4 million people would get it each year. **Also, 10,500 to 13,000 people were hospitalized and 100 to 150 people died **because of chickenpox each year. Most people who had severe chickenpox were healthy beforehand.”
cdc.gov/Features/preventchickenpox/

I wouldn’t call 10-13 thousand hospitalizations and 100-150 deaths annually an inconvenience.

Just to clarify for those who are unaware…
“Varicella (chickenpox), rubella, hepatitis A, shingles and one preparation of rabies vaccine are all made in fetal embryo fibroblast cells. These cells were first obtained from elective termination of two pregnancies in the early 1960s. These same embryonic cells obtained from the early 1960s have continued to grow in the laboratory and are used to make vaccines today.** No further sources of fetal cells are needed to make these vaccines. **”

 

[ExGratia]

)

Actually, chicken pox can be serious and can be life threatening.

“Chickenpox used to be very common in this country. About 4 million people would get it each year. **Also, 10,500 to 13,000 people were hospitalized and 100 to 150 people died **because of chickenpox each year. Most people who had severe chickenpox were healthy beforehand.”
cdc.gov/Features/preventchickenpox/

I wouldn’t call 10-13 thousand hospitalizations and 100-150 deaths annually an inconvenience.

Just to clarify for those who are unaware…
“Varicella (chickenpox), rubella, hepatitis A, shingles and one preparation of rabies vaccine are all made in fetal embryo fibroblast cells. These cells were first obtained from elective termination of two pregnancies in the early 1960s. These same embryonic cells obtained from the early 1960s have continued to grow in the laboratory and are used to make vaccines today.** No further sources of fetal cells are needed to make these vaccines. **”

Thank you for all your information, especially about the vaccines I left off the list!

 

[MJJean]

)

Thank you for all your information, especially about the vaccines I left off the list!

Yeah, I didn’t know about Hep A and one of the rabies vaccines until I did some research.

Even though the termination of 2 pregnancies is the base for the vaccines and this is a terrible thing, I have been vaccinated and so have my kids. I take the view that something good should come from the deaths of those two fetuses. I guess I see it along the lines of not letting their sacrifice be in vain and using the vaccines to safeguard health and life.

 

[kozlosap]

When my daughter attended a well known Jesuit university, all students were required to get the new Menengitis vaccine over one summer. I had no problem at all with it. A year before I was born in 1953, my 3 year old brother died of polio, hence, I have been almost a fanatic about my DD being up-to-date on her vaccinations. Thank God we live in the 21st Century and that most of the killer contagious diseases have been erradicated in 1st world countries. One of my pet charities is one who helps provide vaccinations for those in Africa.

 

[thistle]

That’s not the whole story, though. Note this paragraph from the document:

As regards the diseases against which there are no alternative vaccines which are available and ethically acceptable, it is right to abstain from using these vaccines if it can be done without causing children, and indirectly the population as a whole, to undergo significant risks to their health. However, if the latter are exposed to considerable dangers to their health, vaccines with moral problems pertaining to them may also be used on a temporary basis. The moral reason is that the duty to avoid passive material cooperation is not obligatory if there is grave inconvenience. Moreover, we find, in such a case, a. proportional reason, in order to accept the use of these vaccines in the presence of the danger of favouring the spread of the pathological agent, due to the lack of vaccination of children. This is particularly true in the case of vaccination against German measles [15].

The bottom line is that the CDF is saying that every effort ought to be made to utilize vaccines obtained via moral means. And every effort must be made to produce moral alternatives for these vaccines derived from fetal cell lines. But if there are no other moral alternatives and there is a health risk, parents could licitly use those vaccines.

 

[Bobby_Jim]

“Varicella (chickenpox), rubella, hepatitis A, shingles and one preparation of rabies vaccine are all made in fetal embryo fibroblast cells. These cells were first obtained from elective termination of two pregnancies in the early 1960s. These same embryonic cells obtained from the early 1960s have continued to grow in the laboratory and are used to make vaccines today.** No further sources of fetal cells are needed to make these vaccines. **”

Yes, I’ve taken that to understand that people using these vaccines today are far removed from the immoral circumstances of the creation of these cell lines. Even the companies that manufacture the vaccines had nothing to do with the abortions or subsequent harvesting of the tissues. I heard an interview with the guy who actually did harvest one of the cell lines (WI-38) back in the 1960s - university guy doing basic cell biology research; not the doctor who performed the abortion, but he knew what he was receiving from the hospital where it was performed. Anyway he sent samples of the cells to colleagues who sent them to colleagues etc. So eventually they started being used in labs studying viruses and making vaccines.

As per specifically rubella - if one happens to contract this (whether as a child or adult), and happens to pass it on to a pregnant woman - it has significant chance of leading to severe birth defects or miscarriage (up to ~20%). At a university you stand a pretty good chance of being around women of childbearing age. The choice to not vaccinate does affect other people.

 

[MJJean]

Yes, I’ve taken that to understand that people using these vaccines today are far removed from the immoral circumstances of the creation of these cell lines. Even the companies that manufacture the vaccines had nothing to do with the abortions or subsequent harvesting of the tissues. I heard an interview with the guy who actually did harvest one of the cell lines (WI-38) back in the 1960s - university guy doing basic cell biology research; not the doctor who performed the abortion, but he knew what he was receiving from the hospital where it was performed. Anyway he sent samples of the cells to colleagues who sent them to colleagues etc. So eventually they started being used in labs studying viruses and making vaccines.

As per specifically rubella - if one happens to contract this (whether as a child or adult), and happens to pass it on to a pregnant woman - it has significant chance of leading to severe birth defects or miscarriage (up to ~20%). At a university you stand a pretty good chance of being around women of childbearing age. The choice to not vaccinate does affect other people.

The bolded is something too few understand. Thanks for the further info on the vaccine development and fetal tissue harvest.